Collaboration!!

While reading Nina Simon's chapter on collaboration, it hit me how important collaboration really is when putting together exhibits and events at museums. Keeping the community involved in the planning stage is important because it allows them to feel as if they are a part of something bigger.  If they are involved with the project, it will bring more of the public in to actually see the exhibit, and would hopefully garner more support among the public to come and visit the museum!

Almost Done! =]

Well I have finally finished the initial part of my project. The dossier is done, it just needs to be proofread, and my storyboard is done as well. I'm so excited to have the brunt of the work finished!! I have been working on a powerpoint to help me out with my presentation and that should be done by tomorrow! It feels like all the hard work is finally paying off =]

Project Update

It is finally coming together! I went to JoAnn Fabrics and Sherwin Williams and have purchased fabric samples and paint samples for my storyboard. The storyboard design needs to be put together but I am waiting to find a few more finishing touches, before putting it all together. I have also started coming up with an outline of my dossier to help make the actual paper a little easier to put together!

Visitor Contributions!

Nina Simon's chapter on visitors contributions to exhibits, by donating/lending their ideas or belongings, and even by making comments for the exhibit, reminded me of a similar exhibit I had been to. In the fall of 2008, I had a chance to go to Dublin and see the Guinness Storehouse. The whole place is a museum on the history of Guinness beer in Ireland. It was not only very different and creative, but it was also a lot of fun and was educational (it tied the history of the company in with some of Irish history as well). Near the end of the exhibit, there was a station for visitors to post comments/thoughts on the exhibit on a wall for future visitors to read. It was cool because people posted things about what they did/didn't like about Guinness, or the museum. Most cards also showed where people were from so it put some things in perspective on the beer. Perspectives like where in the world its sold, what people like about it or don't like about it, and how it must be popular if people come from all over the world to see the museum. It made the exhibits on how it is made interesting and further pushed Arthur Guinness' (the founder) conviction that people would buy it all over the world, and that it would be famous for years, even if people thought he was crazy for signing a lease for 9,000 years!

Crunch time..

Well this weekend I have every intention of starting to work on the storyboard. I'm hoping I can go to Sherwin Williams and JoAnn Fabrics to find some supplies, although I think I have most of what I need already. I'm also hoping that with the storyboard starting to come together, I should be able to work on the dossiere and it will (hopefully) come together better than its been coming so far...

Making Visitor Experiences Memorable

I liked what Simon pointed out in our readings about how some museums seek to make the audience feel as if they are part of something. She uses The Power of Children exhibit at the Indianapolis Children's Museum as an example. I think that talks/videos that make visitors feel as if they too are experiencing that event, can have a profound impact on them. The docents who portray important characters from the time can make the visitors think about these historic events and ask questions to make them think. I think this does affect them more than seeing an exhibit with objects could though. It causes them to evoke more emotions and question things that they might not normally question.

Project Update

Well I can't believe that the semester is almost over (I think there are 5 weeks left?!) and that the due date for this project is slowly creeping up on me. While I've been trying to piece it together, I feel like I haven't been doing much of anything, and I definitely need to start working on it a little bit harder... So my goal for the next week is to sit down and make an outline of what I still need to do, what I have done and maybe start working on my presentation and storyboard!